Jeremiah 38:13
in Jeremiah 38and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So they drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.
KJV
So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.
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This verse in Jeremiah 38
Commentary
4 notes on this verseAt the intercession of Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, by special order from the king, he is taken up out of the dungeon and confined only to the court of the prison,
This site's exposition
heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon
on Jeremiah 38:7-13
Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch in the king's house and so a foreigner and an outsider by two counts, hears of the dungeon and goes straight to Zedekiah sitting in the gate: these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. His plainness moves the king to immediate action, thirty men and old cast clouts and rotten rags to pad the cords against the prophet's armholes, a practical kindness the text records in its own careful detail. The bench notes the reversal: the princes born of Judah sought Jeremiah's death, and a Cushite servant with no standing in the covenant people saved his life, a man later given his own oracle of deliverance for the trust he showed here (39:15-18).
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
21 But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that the L ORD hath shewed me: 22 And, behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah's house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes, and those women shall say, Thy friends have set thee on, and have prevailed against thee: thy feet are sunk in the mire, and they are turned away back.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:97%@v21-22
So they drew up Jeremiah with cords,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
the third entrance I do not know where it is. Perhaps it is in the Israelites’ Court. The appellation “third” is to say that the hel [the wall surrounding the Temple Court], and the Women’s Court are before it.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּמְשְׁכ֤וּ | vaiyimshekhu | and they drew out | H4900 → | |
| אֶֽת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יִרְמְיָ֙הוּ֙ | yirmeyahu | Jeremiah | H3414 → | 147 times |
| בַּֽחֲבָלִ֔ים | bachavalim | with ropes | H2256 → | 62 times |
| וַיַּעֲל֥וּ | vaiyaalu | and they brought up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| אֹת֖וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> him | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַבּ֑וֹר | habor | the cistern | H953 → | 66 times |
| וַיֵּ֣שֶׁב | vaiyeshev | and he remained | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| יִרְמְיָ֔הוּ | yirmeyahu | Jeremiah | H3414 → | 147 times |
| בַּחֲצַ֖ר | bachatzar | in [the] courtyard of | H2691 → | 191 times |
| הַמַּטָּרָֽה׃ ס | hamatarah | the guard | H4307 → | 16 times |
וַיִּמְשְׁכ֤וּand they drew out
vaiyimshekhuH4900 →
אֶֽת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יִרְמְיָ֙הוּ֙Jeremiah
yirmeyahuH3414 →147 times
בַּֽחֲבָלִ֔יםwith ropes
bachavalimH2256 →62 times
וַיַּעֲל֥וּand they brought up
vaiyaaluH5927 →890 times
אֹת֖וֹ<obj.> him
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הַבּ֑וֹרthe cistern
haborH953 →66 times
וַיֵּ֣שֶׁבand he remained
vaiyeshevH3427 →1079 times
יִרְמְיָ֔הוּJeremiah
yirmeyahuH3414 →147 times
בַּחֲצַ֖רin [the] courtyard of
bachatzarH2691 →191 times
הַמַּטָּרָֽה׃ סthe guard
hamatarahH4307 →16 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Acts 23:35he said, “I will hear your case when your accusers arrive.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod’s Praetorium.
it leads to
- Acts 23:30
When I was informed that there was a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also instructed his accusers to present their case against him before you.
- Acts 25:16
I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand a man over before he has had an opportunity to face his accusers and defend himself against their charges.
- Acts 23:30
Through
Acts 28:16When we arrived in Rome, Paul was permitted to stay by himself, with a soldier to guard him.
it leads to
- Acts 27:3
The next day we landed at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul with consideration, allowing him to visit his friends and receive their care.
- Acts 24:23
He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard, but to allow him some freedom and permit his friends to minister to his needs.
- Acts 27:3
Through
Jeremiah 37:21So King Zedekiah gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread daily from the street of the bakers, until all the bread in…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 38:28
And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.
- Jeremiah 52:6
By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.
- Jeremiah 38:9
“My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have dropped him into the cistern, where he will starve to death, for there…
- Jeremiah 32:2
At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard, which was in the palace of the king of…
- Jeremiah 38:28
About Jeremiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.